Mya's Graduation

Chapter 5 || Graduation Day

{Friday morning: graduation day}

Mya's POV

I looked at myself in the bathroom mirror. I had my graduation robe on and my hair was down instead of its signature twin ponytails. I had no makeup on today, somehow I felt way more confident than usual. I put my graduation cap on and left the bathroom. I walked downstairs and saw Cole sitting in the living room. He noticed me and looked up from his phone.

"Are you done?" Cole asked as he stood up. "Yes, I think, I'm just really, really nervous," I replied unsurely. I looked down at myself and saw how long the sleeves were, you could just see my fingertips. "Alright, let's go," Cole said.

As we walked through the doorway to the car, I watched my feet walking; I was wearing my signature black boots. I hopped into the passenger seat of the car and buckled my seatbelt. As Cole pulled out of the driveway, I pulled my speech out from my sleeve, which was where I was hiding it. I unfolded it and read over it.

"I think you're gonna do great, Mya," Cole said, "Besides when it starts you'll have time compose yourself. Don't they call everyone up by last names?" I looked up from my paper and sighed. "Yes, they do call up everyone in alphabetical order of last names. But they're also calling people up starting with culinary," I replied. "Oh, well you'll do great, you'll be happy you did it in the end," Cole replied. I looked over at him and saw a soft smile on his face. 

I smiled to myself and continued reading over my speech until my phone started vibrating. It was a bunch of texts from Cassie, Luna, and a few other girls in one group chat.

Cassie- MYA

Ellie-Chan- MYA

Cassie- MYA ANSWER YOUR PHONE

Luna- Stop yelling!

Mya- Hi?

Ellie-Chan- MYA

Cassie- MYA

Mya- That's me, what's up?

Cassie- WE CAN'T COME TO YOUR GRADUATION BUT WE REALLY WANT TO HEAR YOUR SPEECH SO CAN YOU GET COLE TO RECORD IT????

I stared at my phone as I tried to process the whole group chat. "Cole, the girls want you to film my speech," I stated. "Okay, I can do that," He replied.

Mya- He said he could do that

Ellie-Chan- YAY

Luna- You guys are really overreacting

Ellie-Chan- How can we not MYA'S GRADUATING

Mya- Luna's right though, everyone who goes to college and doesn't drop out graduates. It's not that big of a deal

Cassie- Ya but it's you and we appRECIATE YOU SO MUCH GURL

Mya- Aww thanks

Cassie- YOU'RE WELCOME

Mya- Gotta go, we're near campus

Luna- Good luck Mya

Ellie-Chan- Good luck!!!!!!!!

Cassie- Good luck!

Mya- Thanks!

I turned my phone off and looked out the window again. I saw graduates walking through the sidewalks meaning we were pretty close. Then I saw the entrance to the building culinary arts was assigned to. Cole pulled over at the curb to drop me off. I unbuckled my seatbelt and opened the door until something grabbed my hand.

I turned around to look at Cole who was holding it. "Mya, good luck, do your best, and don't rush," He said with a smile. Cole squeezed my hand gently and let go afterward. "Thanks, Cole," I replied. I smiled at him and shut the car door. I waved through the window as he pulled out and left. He was probably looking for a parking spot.

I turned around to look at the building. Today's my last day here, I can't believe it. After four years of coming here almost every single day, I'll probably never come back. I snapped out of thought when I saw one of my best friends, Ethan, walking up the stairs to the front door.

"Ethan!" I called out. The freckled boy turned around and waited at the top of the stairs while I ran over to him. "Hey, Mya! You ready for today?" He asked calmly. "Not at all," I replied. He smiled at me. "Don't worry, you got this. Come on, let's go inside," He motioned for us to go inside.  I followed him in and saw the sight of hundreds of graduates waiting in lines to be seated outside for the graduation.

"They're sorting us by last names this year," I mentioned. "Yup and the lines here are grouped by last names too," He replied. I looked at the signs above each stand: A-G, H-M, N-R, S-Z. "What's your last name again?" I asked Ethan. "Williams, why?" He questioned. "We're in the same the same group," I stated. "Oh cool, let's get in line then, shall we?" He asked. I nodded my head and went to the S-Z line with Ethan behind me. 

The line was moving incredibly slow so Ethan and I talked the whole time. "So Mya, who was that guy that dropped you off?" Ethan asked. "You saw me get dropped off?" I asked. "Yeah, I walked by when you got out of the car. I was going to say hi but he started talking to you," He replied. "But anyway, who is he?" He questioned again. "Oh, uh. He's my boyfriend, Cole," I said shyly. "Aww, I didn't know you had a boyfriend," He teased. I could feel my face heating up. I crossed my arms and looked down at my feet. 

He patted me on the back. He's one of my best friends but sometimes I hate him. I sighed and looked back up. "You seem like you really like him," He stated. "I do but I have relationship trust issues and we don't really do anything lovey-dovey," I replied. "What happened?" He asked. "I rather not get into it right now," I replied and awkwardly laughed. "Oh, that's fine," He smiled at me which caused me to smile back. 

When we finally got to the front of the line, which took an hour surprisingly, we got ourselves checked in and we were guided to the seating area. We got to sit next to each other because we were seated at the same time and seating wasn't in any particular order. I looked around to see if I could see Cole's head in the crowd but because of my small height at a whopping 4'11, I couldn't see anything past the two rows in front.

"Whatcha looking for?" Ethan asked. "I'm looking for Cole and I don't wanna stand up and look for him," I replied. "What does he look like again?" Ethan asked. "Dark brown hair, tall, bright green eyes," I said, describing Cole. "I would just wait till the end to find him," Ethan suggested. "Good idea," I agreed. 

After thirty minutes, all the professors, administrators, and the principal himself walked onto the stage. "Ladies and gentlemen," the principal started.

Here we go.

To be continued...